Hinge



*(N Model.)

J. T. POSTER.

HINGE.

Ptented Dec. 9, 1884'.

UNTTEE STATES PATENT OEEECE.

JOHN T. FOSTER, OF ARLINGTON, NEV JERSEY.

Hiace..

IPECFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,039, dated December9, 1884-.

l Application filed April l5, 1884. (No mcdcl.l

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, Jol-IN T. FosrEn, of Arlington, Hudson county, NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvel, ments in Hinges,of which the following is a termed screw or cam hinges, in which onepart of the hinge has a screw-engagement with the other part, so thatwhen the gate or door is swung open, the screw part unscrews or risesout of its socket, lifting the door, so that the subsequent gravitationof the raised partsY automatically closes the gate. Generally in hingesof this class the pint-le part of the hinge is screw-threaded, to screwdirectly into the barrel part of the hinge, and in this case the hingeis capable of swinging in one direction only. Now, in my improvement thepintlc is a smooth or` plain pin and does not iit directly into thebarrel, but into a smooth bore in an intermediate screw-sleeve whichscrews into the barrel. On the head of this sleeve is formed a crank lugor projection with which the knuckle of the `pintle-leaf of the hingeengages when the gate or door is swung open, so as to turn the sleeve inthe threaded barrel, and thus screw the sleeve up out of the loarrel andraise the gate, while the gravitation of the raised parts,when released,automatically closes the gate and screws the sleeve back into thebarrel. A hinge of this description is placed both at top and bottom ofthe gate, but each having threads of opposite inclination, and with thecrank-lugs on the sleeves arranged to engage in opposite directions, sothat the gate may thus be swung in either direction, and will alwaystend to gravitate closed.

My invention therefore consists, mainly, in the features here outlined,as hereinafter fully set forth.

In the drawings annexed, Figure l presents a perspective view of myimproved hinges shown applied to an ordinary gate, which is shown asswung open. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the pintle half or leaf of thehinge, and Fig. 3 a sectional elevation of the barrel half or leaf. Fig.4 is a plan view of the upper and lower hinges, and Fig. 5 is across-section on line x .r of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 shows a modification.

In Fig. l, A indicates the gate, and b the hi nge-post, and c thelatch-post ofthe gateway.

D indicates the barrel halves or leaves of the hinges, which are securedto the hingepost b, while E indicates the pintle-halves of the hinge,secured to the gate, as usual.

f indicates the barrels of the hinges, and g the pintles, which engagetogether, lout not directly. The pintle as shown is a plain pin, andprojects straight down from the knucklelug h, which stands out at rightangles from the baseplate or leaf of the hinge, as seen yloest in Fi g.2. The barrel f of the hinge does not, however, directly receive thepintle, as usual; but the bore ofthe barrel is screw-threaded, andreceives an intermediate screw-sleeve, 7c, which is threadedcorrespondingly and screws therein, and is forlned with a flat head orrim, which seats on the top of the barrel, as shown at the lower hingein Fig. l, also in Fig. 3. This sleeve k has a smooth bore, and receivesthe pintle g, which fits loosely or freely therein, as shown best inFig. 5, also in Fig. l, and the knuckle 7L of the pintle seats on thetop or rim of the sleeve and on one side of a crank lug or projection,Z, which rises from theedge of the sleeve, as well shown in Figs. 4, 3,and l. rlhe screw-threads on the sleeve and barrel are preferably of asteep pitch and double, as illustrated, and these threads are of reverseinclination on the two hinges, as shown best in Fig. l, so that thethreads of the upper hinge are, say, right-handed, while the threads ofthe lower hinge are left-handed, as illustrated. It will be also seen byreferring to Figs. l and 4 that the crank-lugs on the screwsleeves ofthe respective hinges are in relatively-.reverse positions, that on theupper hinge being behind the knuckle of the pintle, while that on thelower hinge is in front of the pintle-knuckle, as illustrated. It willtherefore now loe seen that when the gate is swung in one direction-sayinward, as shown in Fig. lmthe pintle-knuckle of the upper' hinge willengage with the crank-lu g on the upper sleeve, and thus rotate saidsleeve in the lharrel, and thus screw it up out of the barrel slightlyand IOO correspondingly lift the gate, as shown, which same movementwill of course rotate the lower vknuckle away from the crank-lug of thelower sleeve, thus leaving that sleeve stationary in its barrel, whilethe lower pintle is :raised slightly out of the sleeve to correspondwith the slight lift of the gate and the upper pintle and sleeve, aswell illustrated in Fig. l. Hence if the gate is now released, thegravitation of the raised gate and its attachments will cause the uppersleeve to rotate backward in its barrel, and thus cause the gate toclose automatically, and bring the parts of the sleeve in the samemanner as occurred in the case of the lower hingein the former instance.As soon, therefore, as thegate is released, the parts will gravitateback to their positions of repose, as before, and the gate will closeautomatically in the opposite direction. I-Ience, by this system onehinge acts to close the gate when swung in one direction, and the otherhinge acts to close the gate when swung in the other direction, so thatthe gate is enabled to be swung freely in either direction, and isrendered self-closing in both directions, while the construction of thehinge to accomplish this is very simple. It is easily put together andnot likely to become deranged, and is of such a formation as can all becast without requiring nishings, thus presenting a hinge which possessesmany advantages for gates or doors. Vhere it is desired to have the gateor door self-closing only in one direction, then hinges of the same kindmay be used both at top and bottom, as will be readily comprehended. Insome cases the hinge might be modified, as shown'in Fig 6, withoutdeparting from my inventionthat is, the sleeve may bemade plain on theeX- terior to fit in a plain bore in the barrel, while the bore of thesleeve, as well as the pintle, is threaded to engage together. A stop isarranged between the sleeve and the barrel, which prevents the sleevefrom turning in the direction in which the pintle screws up, but allowsit to turn in the opposite direction; hence when the gate is swung inthe direction in which the sleeve is stopped from turning, the pintlewill screw up in the sleeve, while the sleeve remains at rest in thebarrel; and if the gate is now released, it will gravitate closed, as inthe preferred construction. If, however, the gate be now swung open inthe opposite di.- rection, the pintle will tend to still farther screwdown; but being restrained from this, both the pintle and sleeve willthen rotate freely in the barrel, the action being thus the equivalentof the preferred construction. The preferred construction is, however,considered much the best, as the threads are on a large diameter-viz.,on the exterior of the sleeve-whereas the bore of the sleeve and theexterior of the pintle, which are of small diameter, are left plain,which is much preferable to having the threads on the pintle, whichwould require that the parts be made much larger to secure strength.

Vhat I claim as my invention isl. A screw-hinge constructed with an inftermediate screw-sleeve between barrel and pintle, with engagingprojections between the Sleeve and pintle at one point, so arranged thatthe pintle rotatively engages the sleeve when turned in one direction,but not in the other direction, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

2. The combination, with a door or. gate adapted to swing in oppositedirections, of two screw-hinges, one at top and bottom thereof, the saidhinges being constructed with an intermediate screw-sleeve betweenpintle and barrel, with threads of opposite inclination on the sleevesof the respective hinges, and the said pintles being arranged torotatively engage their respective sleeves in relatively reversedirections, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. ln a screwhinge, the combination, with the screw-barrel f and theplain'pintle g, of the `intermediate screw-sleeve,k, having anengaging-lug, Z, to engage the pintle in one direction, substantially asherein shown and described..

4. The combination, with a door or gate and its hinge-post, of twoscrew-hinges formed with screw-barrelsf, plain pintles g, andintermediate screw-sleeves, 7s 7c, with engaging' lugs l l, thescrew-threads on the respective hinges -being respectively right andleft, and the position of the lugsl Zbeing relatively reverse,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

. JOHN T. FOSTER. Ti tnesses: l OHAs. M. HIGGINs,

JN0.. E. GAv'IN. i

IOO

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